Long removed from their run of five straight NL East titles, the Phillies are rebuilding and trying to avoid last place for the second straight year, but may have too many games remaining against the Mets to have a chance.

On Wednesday, the Mets followed Bartolo Colon’s lead and won 9-4 at Citizens Bank Park for their sixth straight victory and 11th in 12 meetings against the Phillies this season.

The Mets are 51-22 against teams with losing records, and the schedule won’t get harder anytime soon.

“You have got to win the games you’re supposed to win — there is no doubt about it,” manager Terry Collins said on a night the Mets moved 6 ½ games ahead of the Nationals — who lost 6-5 to the Padres — in the NL East race.

Colon (11-11) threw seven shutout innings, as he allowed five hits and walked two. It was a much-needed strong start for the Mets, who endured short outings from Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard the previous two nights.

The dark cloud was four runs allowed by the Mets bullpen in the eighth, with Eric O’Flaherty and Carlos Torres responsible for the damage. Tyler Clippard got the final out in the eighth and then worked a scoreless ninth for the save.

Michael Cuddyer gave the Mets a cushion with a monstrous two-run homer in the eighth that reached the second deck in left field. In the ninth, the Mets received additional insurance runs on Curtis Granderson’s RBI double, Yoenis Cespedes’ ensuing triple and a Daniel Murphy sacrifice fly.

“I haven’t been putting pressure on myself to get the job done, because I know other guys in the lineup will and are,” said Cuddyer, who is 11-for-23 (.478) with two homers on the road trip. “It works out. The less pressure you put on yourself, the more success you’re going to have.”

The Mets (70-56) still have seven games remaining against the Phillies — one Thursday, three next week at Citi Field and three more here beginning Sept. 29.

Just in case that isn’t enough reason for the Mets to be excited, they still have six games remaining against the dreadful Marlins and will play host to a sluggish Red Sox team this weekend in Flushing.

Of their final 36 games, only nine will come against teams that entered Wednesday with winning records (the Nationals and Yankees).
Granderson said it’s a tribute to the Mets’ mental approach that they haven’t had letdowns against losing teams.

“Realizing that we’re not taking anybody lightly or anybody for granted, I think is a good sign,” Granderson said. “When you step on the field, no matter if it’s a first-day guy or experienced guy on the mound, you come in there ready to play.”

Jerad Eickhoff (1-1) got rolling for the Phillies after a shaky first inning in which he allowed three runs. The right-hander retired 16 consecutive batters beginning in the first, a streak snapped by Michael Conforto’s two-out double in the sixth. Juan Uribe followed with an RBI single that extended the Mets’ lead to 4-0. In the seventh, Cuddyer homered against Jeanmar Gomez to give the Mets two additional runs.

Odubel Herrera’s two-base error on Granderson’s fly to deep center leading off the game set the tone for the Mets’ three-run first inning. Herrera simply dropped the ball, and moments later the Mets had a 1-0 lead on Cespedes’ RBI single. Cuddyer followed with an RBI double and Conforto’s run-scoring single accounted for the third run in the inning.

Colon loaded the bases on three singles in the first, but escaped trouble by retiring Andres Blanco. The Phillies also threatened with two runners aboard in the fourth before Colon retired Cameron Rupp and struck out Domonic Brown.

“After the first inning [pitching coach] Dan [Warthen] and I got together,” Colon said. “He told me to use my secondary pitches. The use of the changeup was the key today after that first inning.”